Yahoo Lays Out Peace Terms With Third Point And Ex-CEO Scott Thompson

Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb seems to have gotten just about everything he could want from the settlement agreement with Yahoo, disclosed today in an SEC filing. Yahoo agreed to pay Third Point $4M to compensate for its campaign to gain four board seats. Loeb settled for three, including one for himself. In return, Loeb and his colleagues signed a stand-still agreement: They can’t collectively own more than 10% of Yahoo’s voting shares — Third Point already has 5.8%. Also, if the group’s holdings fall below 2%, then they have to resign from the board. Loeb also said he wouldn’t engage in a proxy campaign, or even disparage the company, its directors “or any person who has served as an officer or director of Yahoo!.” That presumably ends Loeb’s effort to investigate how Yahoo came to misrepresent former CEO Scott Thompson’s bachelors’ degree. Meanwhile, Thompson — who just served as CEO for four months — agreed to give up unvested equity awards as well as severance compensation. He does get to keep a cash bonus and restricted stock provided to him when he signed on. Everyone agreed not to disparage Thompson as long as he reciprocates by not trash-talking the company or anyone there.